


golden city hot springs

by millimallow



Series: the world of owa [20]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: its crime time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-13 01:49:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18022526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/millimallow/pseuds/millimallow
Summary: we're in hot water now.pt 21 of the world of owa anthology.





	golden city hot springs

whenever you’re yelled at in a language that’s unknown to you, that’s how you know you’re in big trouble. all i can do is thank myself for being prepared. and i can’t do that.

despite being one of the most northen areas of the world, coril wa is prone to uneasonable warmth. named after the corilid range, an impassable semi-volcanic mountain range bordering the country, extensive thermal vents run under the land claimed under the flag of coril wa. with an otherwise nomadic and easy-going population, this means that everyone (more or less, at least) knows coril wa- and its capital- for the hot springs. maybe you don’t know a single person from coril wa, or even of corilese descent, but you know of the golden city. the tourist destination that pays for everything the government would need in terms of infrastructure- with enough notoriety, even high taxes and regulation won’t stop you making a lot of money.

well, i came to this place with a friend and the same perspective. there isn’t anything that could stand in the way of us accumulating some scratch. not in the typical sense, where people flog towels to forgetful tourists in the baths or sell illicit substances. it’s not just the hot springs that make money in coril wa- it’s all the businesses that sprang up to surround them, catering to a variety of travellers from all over the world, nearly all of them working with sizeable budgets. brains addled with steam and hot water, tourists often indulge in gambling near to the hot springs. bright and flashy buildings, service from the few corilese who care to live in their own capital.

we were going to pull off a casino heist. there was a justification in mind- casinos operate so unethically, inherently, that there wasn’t anything wrong with what we were doing. were we going to spend the money on ethical pursuits? not likely, but that’s not the point. slipping into a tourist area as outsiders made us less suspicious than even the native corilese, who are mostly of the perspective that the casinos are a necessary nonsense and who can rarely be found inside the doors of one. neither of us had to spend much time falsifying our disguises or persons- being mostly nondescript foreigners was sufficient, and changing our outfits and distinctive facial features as often as we could should equally suffice as a disguise should we need one. southern elves like myself are known for being excellent traders and travellers, even if rarely venturing north, and my partner provided a sufficient impression of a member of dragonborn royalty in the northern wilds.

it was a near-flawless plan, really. of course the defences were formidable, but we were both rogues, and the strength of the defence seemed to compensate for checking it in people’s minds. there were weaknesses- a wall is only as strong as its most solid and sturdy part.

yet we’re still being yelled at. but it’s not just us. all i’m hoping is that my partner can keep his straight face- and that if he can’t, that there’s no evidence we came together as a pair. i would prefer to not face any philosophical questions about honour amongst thieves, please. if i had been any good in school then i wouldn’t be robbing casinos in a barren, icy far north territory.

i can tell that the corilese folk can understand what’s going on. one of the waiters- a half elf, from the looks of it- listens attentively from next to my table, eyes wide and compliant. the speaker is a human, and when she finishes i see the server scuttle off alongside his co-workers into a room, watched over by these members of the guard.

nobody else moves.

yeah, i didn’t bother learning a word of the language. don’t bother getting mad at me for that when you read this, because i know i made a dumb decision. i made it willingly, actually, because i’m the guy who goes to rob a casino but can’t be bothered to learn “please” and “thank you” in corilese.

across the room, at the bar, is my partner. he’s holding his stupid glass of spirit and staring point-blank at the alcohol cabinet held behind the counter. makes him look like an idiot, but if he avoids moving or looking at me it might make the situation a little easier to justify.

then, the common begins.

“attention, all casino attendees!” oh boy. “we’ve detected unauthorized access to the casino vault.” this person is the opposite of reassuring. i could get the best news of my life from them and feel like a child being yelled at for spilling the milk. “lockdown procedures are now in effect.”

flitting my eyes from the center of the room to my partner at the bar, i watch his back tense slightly. unfortunate for him- more unfortunate for both of us if it gets noticed.

“every single attendee present here will be thoroughly examined and interrogated for knowledge relating to the incident. there is a no tolerance policy for situations of this type-“

any comments about my lack of preparation, rude or jeering though they may be, are now thoroughly justified by this.

“-and we will pursue the culprits to the full extent of the law. further, if necessary.”

my life plans had never included an extrajudicial execution. it seems like a remarkable inconvenience.

and then i hear the bang. it resonates across the room before coming to its completion, throwing many of the customers out of their seats onto the floor. chaos as the glass lamps on each machine shatter with force, leaving only a few lightbulbs intact.

a voice rings out, and in the moment, it could be anyone. not my partner, though.

and i don’t know why it happens, but we all run when we hear the second part-

“SCATTER!”

well, these are the days where i thank the earth for my gills. i’m buckling to the other side of the casino, through the hallway, into the outdoor natural pool. steam and the scent of minerals rise- i’m getting close.

i follow the stream which feeds it into the outdoors, the air on my skin telling me i’m home free.

only after a few minutes do i realize this-

we hadn’t actually tried to steal yet.


End file.
